THE GREEN HORNET directed by Michel Gondry, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg based on the radio series created by George W. Trendle, with Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Tom Wilkinson and Christoph Waltz. A Sony Pictures release. 118 minutes. Opens Friday (January 14). For venues, trailers and times, see Movies. Rating: NN
The news that Michel Gondry was taking over Seth Rogen’s Green Hornet movie after the departure of director and co-star Stephen Chow seemed, well, odd.
You don’t think of Gondry, who made the brilliant Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and the rather less brilliant follow-ups The Science Of Sleep and Be Kind Rewind, as the superhero type. But, then, Rogen doesn’t seem like the superhero type either.
The Green Hornet finds both Gondry and Rogen paddling around in new waters, collaborating on a big-budget update of a character from a 1930s radio series – though the film lifts most of its iconography from the 1960s TV adaptation starring Van Williams as playboy avenger Britt Reid and Bruce Lee as his versatile sidekick, Kato.
As your great-grandparents can tell you, The Green Hornet was cut from the same cloak as Batman and The Shadow: he was a good guy who posed as a bad guy the better to gain the trust of the criminal underworld. And he had a really cool gas gun.
Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s script reimagines Reid as a wealthier version of Rogen’s usual chatty dolt. Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou mostly projects impatience as the hyper-capable Kato, who handles fighting and driving duties while Reid throws out wisecracks in the passenger seat. When they’re not fighting crime, they both lust after Reid’s secretary (Cameron Diaz, trying very hard not to be Gwyneth Paltrow in Iron Man). And that’s pretty much it.
A better, stranger movie can be glimpsed straining to be noticed behind Rogen’s standard goofery. The opening sequence, which introduces Christoph Waltz as an eccentric crime lord, belongs in a far sharper picture, and the film’s climax is built around a novel, thoroughly Gondryesque idea – though it’s preceded by one of the sloppiest car chases in recent memory, made even worse by the additional darkness imposed by the 3-D conversion process.
Catch this in 2-D if you can. It still won’t be very good, but you’ll at least be able to see the damn thing.
normw@nowtoronto.com
